Male jag done growing at 8"???

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fishman09

fishman09

Piranha
MFK Member
Jul 11, 2011
3,700
97
81
Centralia, WA
so ive had this male jag for 6-7 months now and has not grown an inch. i removed his female about a month ago and they had spawned like clockwork monthly and when i bought them they were both right around 8" and the male has gained maybe 1/4" the whole time ive had him. it cant be from small tank size as the smallest tank hes been in is a 75 gallon and have had twice weekly 50% wc as a minimum. one thing that i can say is that when i first got them they got some kind of internal parasite that got cured in a couple weeks and every spawn their fry seemed to die off rather quickly without extreme care and lots of feedings and only lived on live brine and have zero left from 5 spawns. hes an amazing jag with crazy cool colors and is now in my 240 with about 7 other fish so im hoping not breeding and a different tank dynamic can get him to grow some. has anybody hadany similar experiences with their cichlids.
 
I used to have an Oscar which had grown about 1" over a 4 month period. I had treated for parasites multiple times and I provided him with pristine water. He lived in a 180, with a few other SA/CA's and another O. Which grew from the 2" to 6" whilst he only grew form 2" to 3". I believe it was down to bad genetics, or being the sub-dominant fish. Because he ate like a pig (a normal O).

I also had a pair of convicts which bred like clockwork similar to your jags. however, it was both of them stopped growing. They stayed around the 2"-3" mark for months. I personally believe it was due to them breeding and possibly due to stress through the loss of their fry (I pulled them).

Another interesting point I read somewhere is that If a cichlid has less challengers for dominance or no predators it will grow slower. So maybe they became so comfortable that they needn't grow any faster. By putting him in with other fish that may encourage him to grow.

Just my 2c.
 
GrantA94 said:
I used to have an Oscar which had grown about 1" over a 4 month period. I had treated for parasites multiple times and I provided him with pristine water. He lived in a 180, with a few other SA/CA's and another O. Which grew from the 2" to 6" whilst he only grew form 2" to 3". I believe it was down to bad genetics, or being the sub-dominant fish. Because he ate like a pig (a normal O).

I also had a pair of convicts which bred like clockwork similar to your jags. however, it was both of them stopped growing. They stayed around the 2"-3" mark for months. I personally believe it was due to them breeding and possibly due to stress through the loss of their fry (I pulled them).

Another interesting point I read somewhere is that If a cichlid has less challengers for dominance or no predators it will grow slower. So maybe they became so comfortable that they needn't grow any faster. By putting him in with other fish that may encourage him to grow.

Just my 2c.
Click to expand...

thanks. funny thing is that he went from being an absolute beast attacking me constantly when paired up and breeding and is now a sub dominant fish and works great in the community. appreciate the input
 
Jags seem to have very variable growth rates. Mine always grew in spurts and it would seem like there was no growth for weeks and then they would grow like crazy


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Being lower in the pecking order within the new tank might also slow its growth rate, as ive read too much stress and and not having dibs on food is another cause.
 
I had an old male JD that did the same thing. He grew to about 7" and then just stopped. I had him for about 8 months, and he didn't grow a micron.

I think some fish just stop growing.

But that size is pretty small for a Jag. I bet he's going to have a growth spurt soon.

I also think that seeing them every day makes you think they aren't growing. Try taking a picture and waiting a couple months. See if he looks different. I thought the same thing with my GT, and after I got back from vacation, he was definitely bigger.
 
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